Shutting down a physical protest is easy, just apply pepper spray liberaly and arrest anyone that can't run away. Shutting down online protests with democratic overtures is an entirely different matter. And that has oppressive regimes around the world very worried.

A major independent publisher, Perseus Books Group, has signed a deal with Apple to provide ebooks for the iPad. According to the NYT, the deal is similar to those which Apple has made with other major publishers: